Psalm 54
O God, save me by your name,
and vindicate me by your might.
2 O God, hear my prayer;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
3 For strangers have risen against me;
ruthless men seek my life;
they do not set God before themselves. Selah
4 Behold, God is my helper;
the Lord is the upholder of my life.
5 He will return the evil to my enemies;
in your faithfulness put an end to them.
6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.
7 For he has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.
I inherited a lot from my family. I have my grandmother's sloping shoulder, and recently I discovered, I have Samuel Langhorne Clemens' hair. God, help me not to have his eyebrows.
He will return the evil to my enemies;
in your faithfulness put an end to them.
Winston Churchill said
Mark Twain said
Mark Twain – An enemy can partly ruin a man
but it takes a good-natured injudicious friend to complete the thing and make it perfect.
If you combine the statements, we are our own worst enemy.
I've been volunteering at our local pregnancy assistance center for over a year now. Trichomonas used to be a parasite found in dirt, now it is an STD. We saw two cases last week. Chlamydia is silent, until a young mom is crying at our clinic after hearing her eight-week old baby died from Chlamydia and the sonogram nurse has to tell her. The young woman getting ready to volunteer at her Church, for the youth group, is having an affair with her co-worker, under the nose of his gf, who also works there. The man who was tested for STDs is a devoted follower of Jesus, and loves HIM fiercely. This man can't tell his close-knit Church family he is horribly addicted to porn, lost his job, his marriage, his ex-wife blackmailed him to get him out of their lives - after taking the house he provided and half of his savings.
What is the enemy of these people? Obviously poor choices. The last two agree, not knowing each other, what the problem is - they are bored. TV is horrible, both agree, they feel their work a day lives are boring. Stuck in a rut.
Both of the last two clients go to Church. But they agree they are not living lives faced with deliberation.
Behold, God is my helper;
the Lord is the upholder of my life.
He will return the evil to my enemies;
in your faithfulness put an end to them.
We have regrets in life. One would be not to have something to teach our grandchildren. Very few of us realize we are building our lives every day. We need each day to give justice with mercy, walk humbly with the LORD. Bible Studies, learning a way to diligently improve our existence, each day.
Behold, God is my helper.
Not a single person in the Scripture got everything right. These two clients are Christians afraid to disclose their real lives. Fearing they are too messed up to go on. The man agreed with me, Moses might have led the Children of Israel out of Egypt, but Joshua saw the Exodus, the most momentous work of GOD, go awry. Kaput. And Joshua DID NOT give up, give in, quit trying, Joshua said," As for me and my, We Shall Serve the LORD. "
Paul said, he would see how it was going with him. Living an adventure.
John 3:8
The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit
2 John 1:8,9
Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. 9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
It took time, yet. Put out our hands, say. I'm making a list -
Behold, GOD IS my helper.
Go and find the adventure, the gift, the willingness to do something new. Making choices HE does not have to sweep up after. Learning skills of building up your soul. Making a home, making a path, making a heart ready for HIM to dwell in.
James 2:13
because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
1 Timothy 4:14
Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
2 Timothy 4:7
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
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